Bliss is delighted to announce that the first award from its new research fund has been granted to a pioneering project which aims to understand pain in premature babies. The research team is seeking to improve both the way that pain is treated in premature babies and how best to accurately measure it. The project aims to measure the effects of essential but painful procedures on breathing, heart rate, oxygen saturation, facial expression and brain activity in order to identify the best age-appropriate ways to assess and treat pain in premature babies. The researchers will also seek to find out whether a parent’s touch during a procedure can reduce pain in infants.